BEARS SET TO FACE DELAWARE STATE MONDAY
The Morgan State Bears (11-13, 9-3 MEAC), winners of five of its last six games, hits the road to take on Delaware State (8-18, 4-9 MEAC) on Monday at 7:30 p.m. The Bears are attempting to win its fourth straight game, which would mark its longest winning streak of the season. Delaware State will enter the contest fresh off Saturday’s 84-71 home win against Maryland-Eastern Shore, and have won four of its last five games.

SCOUTING DELAWARE STATE
The Hornets welcomed back 10 veterans, including three starters, from a squad that posted a 15-18 overall record, and finished eighth place in the MEAC with an 8-8 record. The Hornets have three players averaging double-digit scoring. Casey Walker leads the squad averaging 12.5 ppg, followed by Tyshawn Bell (12.4 ppg) and Kendall Gray (11.4 ppg). Gray is among the league leaders in rebounding (Ranked No. 2) by averaging 7.4 rpg. Walker is currently 4-2 as the Hornets interim head coach after taking over for Greg Jackson who was fired on Thursday, Jan. 28. Casey Walker came off the bench to score 26 points to help give Delaware State an 84-71 victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore on Saturday. TyShawn Bell had 16 points and six rebounds for the Hornets. Kendall Gray added 15 points and Kendal Williams had 10.

LAST TIME VS. THE HORNETS
Feb 1, 2014 — Ian Chiles scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds in helping Morgan State overcome a seven-point halftime deficit in defeating Delaware State 77-64 on Saturday before a crowd of 3,970 fans at Hill Field House. Justin Black finished with 14 points and Cedric Blossom posted a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for Morgan State, which improved to 7-12 overall and 5-2 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Morgan State shot only 35 percent in the first half but improved to 48 percent in the second period in overtaking the Hornets.

WE MEET AGAIN: The Morgan State Bears will square off against the Hornets for the 92nd meeting between the two. Morgan State holds a 51-40 advantage, and the Bears have won the last two meetings. Todd Bozeman holds a 12-5 record against the Hornets since becoming MSU’s head coach in 2006.

AVOIDING THE ROAD KILL

This season’s schedule will send MSU on the road for 14 games, including a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. With the recent 88-72 win at Maryland Easter Shore the Bears improved to 4-8 on the season, including 4-2 versus MEAC teams.

THREE IN DOUBLE FIGURES
Thru 24 games last season, three Bears averaged more than 10 points a game. Justin Blackleads with by averaging 19.2 ppg (No. 3 in MEAC),Ian Chilesaverages 15.3 points per game, while Anthony Hubbard is averaging 10.8 points and leads the squad averaging 6.8 rpg (No. 6).

BLACK A MEMBER OF THE 1,000 POINTS CLUB
Senior guard Justin Black eclipsed the 1,000 point mark for his career as a result of his 24-point outing against Cal State Northridge (12/27) … Black recently moved in front of Damone Williams (1,207 pts – 1986-90) as the school’s No. 15 leading scorer and currently has 1,261 career points.

POUNDING THE PAINT
Morgan State is eager to get the ball inside this season, even more so than normal. Through 12 conference games, MSU leads the MEAC averaging 76 points per game, including 15 points in the paint. This includes a dominating 50-22 edge in the paint at Hampton (1/20), and 42-20 advantage at Coppin State (2/10).

THEIVES IN THE NIGHT
Two Bears are averaging better than 1.0 steals per game –Justin Black (2.0 – ranks No. 2 in MEAC), and Donte Pretlow (1.3 – No. 9). Morgan State is also No. 5 in the MEAC by averaging 6.7 steals per game.

TOUGH IN THE PAINTIan Chilesand Thair Heath are shooting better than .500 from the field this year. Thru the first 24 games Chiles is shooting 55.2 pct (ranks No. 5 in MEAC). Heath is shooting 54.2 pct., while frontcourt teammate The Bears are among the top teams in the MEAC ranked No. 3 in field goal percentage (.431).

WELCOME TO MY BLOCK PARTYIan Chiles has been making the most of his 7-foot-2 frame. The senior recorded a career-high 9 blocked shots against Norfolk State on Feb. 8. He’s currently ranked No. 2 in the MEAC averaging 3.0 rejections per contest (72) and now has 171 career blocks.

THE ALMOST-TRIPLE-DOUBLE
Despite the loss against Norfolk State (Feb. 8), Ian Chiles had a strong effort and came close to finishing with the oh so rare — triple-double. “Big Slew” completed the night with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and notched a career-high nine blocked shots … one rejection short a triple-double.

A BLOSSOM ON THE OFFENSIVE GLASSCedric Blossom leads the Bears with 66 offensive rebounds thru the first 24 games. The sophomore has started in every game and is averaging 6.8 ppg, 5.3 rebounds in 22.9 minutes. He had a sensational game at UMES (Feb. 17) where he posted a career-high 20 points and 11 rebounds — it marked the second double-double of his career.

THE 3-HEADED GRIZZLY
In the first 12 conference matchups this season Justin Black, Ian Chiles and Anthony Hubbard have scored 509 points, while the rest of the squad has produced 394 points. In the blowout of Howard, the trio combined to score 39 points with Black scored a team-high 17 points. Against Coppin State, the trio accounted for 61 of the Bears’ 82 points with Black and Chiles leading the way with 23 apiece. The trio has totaled 1,087 of the team’s 1,731 points, 62 percent of the team’s scoring load.